Although D.C.'s mayoral race has been in full swing for months now, Arlingtonians probably just started noticing the first signals that their political season was picking up a few weeks ago. Campaign signs have begun to pop up on lawns around the county, and who can forget the contentious swag shenanigans at the County Fair last month?

While Arlington County Democrats made it official with a meeting and chili cook-off, today's the day that the candidates endure their first test. Candidates for U.S. Congress, county board and school board will participate in a forum organized by the Arlington County Civic Federation. Timing and rules for the forum are outlined on the meeting agenda. (PDF)

The meeting begins at 7:30 at the Virginia Hospital Center Hazel Conference Center, at 1701 N George Mason Drive. The meeting is a candidate "forum", as opposed to a debate, meaning candidates will be asked to respond to questions from the ACCF executive committee, but not given the chance for rebuttal of other candidates' statements. (We know how well that always works out.)

For Congress, incumbent Rep. Jim Moran (D) is expected to attend, as well as GOP challenger Patrick Murray and Green Party candidate Ron Fisher. In the Arlington County board race, incumbent Chris Zimmerman (D) will take questions along with Arlington GOP candidate Mark Kelly and Green Party contender Kevin Chisholm. For the school board candidates, incumbent Sally Baird (D) and Green Party challenger Miriam Gennari will participate.

Although Democrats never have much trouble in Arlington elections, the Arlington Democratic Committee is apparently still gearing up to give it their all, according to ARLNow. As far as we know, all candidates are confirmed to attend, but we'll update you later if we hear otherwise.